Warner Bros. is developing a movie about Michael Brown “that is tonally and thematically similar to ‘Crash.'” The news comes courtesy of the Tracking Board, who report that the studio has acquired the rights to Lezley McSpadden’s memoir “Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown.” “Crash,” which won Best Picture in 2006, used a cross-cutting narrative to explore racism in Los Angeles — an approach that remains controversial even now.

Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in August of 2014, leading to ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. The Tracking Board further reports that Warner Bros. is seeking a writer of color to adapt McSpadden’s book, which was published last year.

Brown was 18 when he was killed, and no charges were filed against the officer involved. His story has also been chronicled in the documentaries “Whose Streets?” and “Stranger Fruit,” both of which premiered on the festival circuit this year — the former at Sundance and the latter at South by Southwest.